It was not the first time I was going for a Road Trip, I always prefer going on long tours by my own car, neither it was first tour of Rajasthan, being very near to Delhi, just Haryana being the divider in between it has been the easiest long drive for any person in Delhi to have his foot landed in the beautiful state Rajasthan. This state has something which has attracted me again and again, it barren lands and deserts, beautiful people with full of colors adding the charm in the hot air.
Last year I gave 15 days of my life to Rajasthan, but it is for sure even an year is less to explore the Whole Rajasthan. In those 15 days I could cover only Udaipur, jodhpur, Bikaner,Jaipur and Mandawa and previously I had been to Pushkar twice but not during Pushkar Fair, and it is a dream of every passionate photographer to attend Pushkar Fair. Finally that dream was going to be fulfilled.
On the 2nd of November, me and my wife were on the road towards Pushkar, It was going be a whole day journey, we had left Delhi by 8AM and we knew it was going to take atleast 8hrs for us to reach Pushkar, and actual sight of Pushkar fair would be viewed the next day, so wait for that legendary day to come online, trust me won’t keep you all in a waiting mode for long.
Finally at 6pm we had reached Ajmer which was just 15km away from Pushkar, but the Sun was going down and the first thing for me was to click the Sunset view on the Ana Sagar Lake in Ajmer, I knew by the time I would reach Pushkar it would have reached back to his bed for long sleep so it was better to receive his Good Bye in Ajmer only. Clicking Sunsets and Sunrises has been the fantasy of mine and I always try to capture the Sunset and sunrises of which ever place I am in.
Taking a small halt is sometimes so relieving, legs stretched a bit, knees had been knocking my head from so long for this short relief from being steady at single position and cramping for some room, and Pushkar was also just 30min away now.
Finally by 6.30PM or so we were in Pushkar and it was time to get refreshed and take a small tour of Pushkar city, just a small outline for the next two days.
By 7.30PM we were back on road, and I guess this is the right time to introduce the Sutradhar of this Pushkar tour for me, who made the chances for me to cover this special fair. It was Mr.Paul Warneke of One Dusty Camel from Australia, who happened to read my blogs on Kerala and since then we have been planning for this day to happen, though his tour of India and Nepal had been planned long ago and it was the last minute decision of mine to accompany him in Pushkar as well after showing him bit of my home state Delhi, all the way from Delhi to Pushkar his car was along with my car following each other and stopping at some typical Indian villages which he wanted to see and was very excited about them.
Again we were back on road, this time tyres were resting and now the onus was on knees, a bit of warm up for them for the next two hectic days.
Pushkar fair is about Camels, wherever the eyes go one can see herds of camels sitting in the desert, but right now we were just in a mood to explore a bit of Pushkar streets and shops.
It’s the Diversity of India which has attracted people from foreign lands from ages, and in this diversity Food is also one of the contributor. We were in front of Radhe ji Ki dukan, known for it’s MAAL PUA a sweet dish, which is a famous dish of Pushkar, If you are in Pushkar and you haven’t tasted the Maal Pua of Pushkar, take my words “Tour is Incomplete”. We tasted only a single piece of it, but in single piece only it was in mind that I was going to pack some for my home, which was finalized after knowing that it can last upto 10 days very easily.
After a walk of 30min or so, we had reached to the ground where the Pushkar fair is held every year, it’s a desert very near to Brahma Sarovar. The first thing to come in my mind was, wow it’s a typical Mela we have seen in Indian Movies, stalls of local foods, loud music, people selling something something on stalls and sheets lying on road and one common thing A Big Roller Coaster going round and round, of which I am scared to hell and for a surprise along with my wife, Paul was also very excited to see it and both have decided on their own to go for a ride right away, without even caring for my Yes or No, I was forced to come along, and that stupid fellow, the one who was selling the tickets of Roller Coaster told me that they would give six rounds, and in place of it he atleast gave me 15 rounds, seriously no business sense at all, HaHa its my anger which is saying this.
After those forcefully facing the spinning moments, my head had given the signs that he wants some rest and before that some food and this message of him came via the pain in knees and legs, who were more tired than myself, we decided to move towards the streets and enjoy some food and go back to bed to start the next day with full energy.
Atlast we were having the supper, in Pushkar. Mr.Paul had been waiting for this moment from an year or so, and I was waiting for this since morning. Now was the time to have a good night sleep and start our legendary tour of Pushkar Fair.
